Achieving Better Student Mental Health Through Nutrition

The Littleton, Colorado community understands the relationship between a child’s nutrition and mental health. And it is with those students, the future of the community, in mind the Littleton public school system (LPS) took on the responsibility to improve food quality, accessibility, and students' experience. They invested in a complete renovation of the kitchens at several elementary and middle schools, sourcing Flintco to help. LPS’s Jon Widmier, Coordinator of Social, Emotional and Behavioral Services, Jessica Gould, Director of Nutrition Services, and Terry Davis, Chief Operations Officer, joined Flintco Forward to dive into the project's reasons and the benefits they’ve seen thus far. “Having food is a basic need for students,” Gould said. “When those needs aren’t met, a student’s ability to learn in the classroom is not there.” Ensuring students have access to healthy, nutritious food to learn and achieve their fullest potential is a primary focus for Gould. Expanding on that thought, Widmier said, “What we know is physical health and mental health are two sides of the same coin. So, eating and drinking well can help a person lead a healthier lifestyle and sleep better. And sleep is one of those KPI’s that can really change a student’s game.” With such importance placed on nutrition for students’ health and well-being, having a school system with state-of-the-art kitchens designed to execute nutrition is essential. To help meet these goals, LPS enlisted the help of Flintco for their kitchen renovations. “Flintco came to the table with a creative scheduling approach we had not seen before,” Davis said. “We [had] a two-and-a-half-month construction timeline. And they came in with an approach that did not cost us above and beyond the work scope. Their ability and willingness to make changes without adjusting costs is why Flintco rose above and beyond the competition.”